Friday, November 24, 2017

In Parshas Vayeitzei, Yaakov leaves his
home to travel to the house of his uncle, Lavan, intent on building his family.
As a direct result of Lavan’s trickery, he ended up marrying four women from
whom he had the twelve shevatim, while he originally intended to marry only Rachel.
As much as Yaakov prepared for Lavan tricks, he couldn’t do enough.

The story is well-known, about the group
of shepherds Yaakov met upon his arrival. While they waited for enough people
to gather to help remove the large stone placed on top of the well, they were
lounging with their flocks around the well right in the middle of the work day.
Yaakov immediately strikes up a conversation with them, asking all sorts of
questions you would expect a friendly, perhaps naïve, tourist to ask, but not a
man on a mission like Yaakov. He begins with a simple question, “מֵאַ֣יִן
אַתֶּ֑ם וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ מֵֽחָרָ֖ן אֲנָֽחְנוּ”“…Where are
you from? And they said, ‘We are from Haran.” (Bereishis 29:4). He then
begins to grill them about Lavan. “וַיֹּאמֶר
לָהֶם הַיְדַעְתֶּם אֶת לָבָן בֶּן נָחוֹר …הֲשָׁלוֹם לוֹ” “And he said to
them, ‘Do you know Lavan the son of Nachor?...Are things well with him?” (29:4-5).
While these seem to be innocent questions of a man checking up on his
relatives, the Kli Yakar explains that Yaakov was doing research.

He asks two questions
on the language used in the pasuk. First, why would Yaakov refer to Lavan as
the son of Nachor, his grandfather? He should have referenced his father,
Besuel. Secondly, when asked if they knew Lavan, the shepherds replied, “יָדָֽעְנוּ”, “we know.” Why wouldn’t they have said, “we
know him”?

Once Yaakov heard
these shepherds were from Lavan’s town, he knew they must know of him. The Kli
Yakar explains that Yaakov was trying to find out the character of Lavan.
Nachor was a righteous man while Besuel was a depraved person. Yaakov wanted to
know if Lavan was following the path of his father or his grandfather. Furthermore,
Yaakov was checking to see if there was any question as to Lavan’s lineage. By
referring to Nachor, he was making sure Lavan was completely part of the family
line. The shepherds responded, “We know”, we know he is Nachor’s grandson both
in terms of actions and lineage.

However, Yaakov was
not convinced with one question. He decided to ask another, “Are things well
with him?” Charan was mostly made up of reshaim; Yaakov knew that any tzaddik
living there would be the subject of harassment and ridicule. When the
shepherds replied that everything was well with Lavan, to the extent that he
sent his young daughter out alone in the fields with all those men, Yaakov knew
he couldn’t possibly be a tzaddik.

This was just one of
the preparations Yaakov made to protect himself from Lavan’s trickery and lies.
While he wasn’t able to defend himself from every shtick Lavan tried to pull,
ultimately he was successful in the most important aspect. Even though he spent
20 years in Lavan’s house, grew a large family and became a wealthy man, he and
his family were not affected by the bad influence of Lavan in the slightest. He
remained totally connected to Hashem until the day he left. In our galus we
face many challenges from our surroundings. We must recognize what is right and
proper and keep our course in that direction, regardless of the niceties that
tempt us on the road.

Shabbat Shalom!

The Dvar Torah is now available on parshasheets.com! Check out the site for links to Divrei Torah in both Hebrew and English, written by people around the world.

Friday, November 17, 2017

Parshas Toldos begins the next
generation of the Jewish People with the story of the life of Yitzchak. If you
stop to think about it, this parsha stands out among the others in Sefer
Bereishis as the only parsha to discuss the details of Yitzchak’s life. While
Avraham’s life was discussed over the previous 3 parshiyos and Yaakov’s takes
us to the end of the Sefer, Yitzchak’s life was only deemed necessary to
discuss for one parsha. Why is this? The whole purpose of writing the details
of the lives of our Avos in the Torah is to teach us life lessons. Were there
not enough lessons to be learned from the life of Yitzchak? Was he, perhaps,
less important than Avraham and Yaakov? G-d forbid!

Rabbi Yaakov Kaminetzky explains that
like we said earlier, the purpose of telling us the story of the Avos is to
teach us specific life lessons, of which each of the Avos taught a different one.
However, the amount of attention each one gets in the Torah directly correlates
to the influence they had upon the world. Why was Yitzchak’s lesson not as influential
as the others?

Let’s examine the lessons of each one of
the Avos. Avraham’s main attribute was Chessed. The simple understanding of his
mission is he would provide for people and when they wanted to thank him, he
would teach them to thank Hashem instead. However, it goes deeper than that.
Avraham recognized that everything he had was an act of kindness on the part of
Hashem. When Avraham did Chessed, he did it in order to model his actions after
those of the Creator. So when his guests would thank him for his kindness, he
would direct their thanks heavenward; “You think I’m giving you all this? I’ve
been blessed with kindness as well! All this comes from Hashem, He’s the one
you should thank. I’m just passing His gifts along to you!” A life based on
kindness and mercy is an attractive one to be a part of and drew many people
closer to Hashem.

Yaakov’s main characteristic was his pursuit
of Truth. His pursued truth by learning Torah, the ultimate guide to the
universe, written and given to us by Hashem Himself. By plumbing the depths of the
Torah, Yaakov was able to discern the real truths of the universe. He spent his
life representing honesty and teaching Torah to anyone who would listen. It was
through him that the young nation became connected to the Torah and formulated
a relationship with Hashem. While it may not be as attractive as a warm
inviting home of kindness, a knowledge of truth and is attractive as well.
Therefore, Yaakov drew many people to Hashem as well.

Yitzchak’s main characteristic was his
diligence in his service to Hashem, a trait that was built on his strong sense
of Din and Mishpat, which Reb Yaakov translates in this context to mean that a
person must live his entire life strictly within the guidelines that Hashem has
set up, without compromise. This is a difficult standard to hold oneself to,
complete commitment without wavering at all! The only person to whom this is an
expected way of life is one to whom this lifestyle is so precious, that his
relationship and commitment to Hashem is so important, and that he is ultimately
ready to give up his life for it.

This was Yitzchak’s relationship with Hashem
and the Torah. His view on life was demanding but with the ultimate commitment.
One of the best things in life is loving something or someone enough that you
would die for it, which Yitzchak showed he was ready to do without hesitation
when he volunteered to become the sacrifice Hashem needed by Akeidas Yitzchak. His
life may have been exact, but Yitzchak wasn’t an unhappy person. He didn’t live
his life with a sense of foreboding or fear of overstepping the lines, he lived
with a happiness of being able to serve his Creator to the max. And because it
was so important to him, he demanded of himself complete commitment to his lifestyle.

Yitzchak taught us the idea of Mesiras
Nefesh, dying for a cause, specifically the cause of Hashem. Sadly, Jews have
had to follow this practice too many times throughout history, but the idea of
dying for a cause has been and will always be admired. This was Yitzchak’s
contribution to the Jewish People. However, this lifestyle and level of
commitment is not one for everyone, and Yitzchak did not attract nearly as many
followers to Hashem as Avraham and Yaakov.

The amount of words spent on each of the
Avos is in correlation to how many people they attracted to the religion at
their specific time since the number of stories that they took part in
ultimately comes down to how many people they interacted with and affected, of
which Yitzchak had the least. In the long run, however, the amount written
about each one in the Torah is insignificant; the important part is what they contributed
to us, the Jewish People, their children. The lessons they taught us about how
to live our lives as Ovdei Hashem. While in the times of the Torah Yitzchak may
not have had many followers, his contributions towards the future nation were
just as significant as his father’s and son’s. In fact, while Chessed teaches
us how to be like Hashem and Torah teaches us to understand Hashem, the
self-sacrifice and Mesiras Nefesh of Yitzchak is what ultimately seals our
relationship with Hashem.

Friday, November 10, 2017

This week’s parsha begins with tragedy
as the Torah tells us of the death of Sarah Imeinu. The pasuk tells us that she
was 127 years old when she died, but the real lesson is learned from the how
her age is written. “וַיִּֽהְיוּ֙ חַיֵּ֣י שָׂרָ֔ה מֵאָ֥ה
שָׁנָ֛ה וְעֶשְׂרִ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה וְשֶׁ֣בַע שָׁנִ֑ים שְׁנֵ֖י חַיֵּ֥י שָׂרָֽה” “And
the life of Sarah was one hundred years and twenty years and seven years; the
years of the life of Sarah.” (Bereishis 23:1). Why did the pasuk write out
each set of years separately?

The classic
explanation comes, as usual, from Rashi. He explains that each set of years is
meant to make a point. First, when she was one hundred, she was like a twenty
year old in terms of sin. Until the age of twenty, a person is not liable for
punishment from Heaven for any sins they may do; even at the age of 100, Sarah
had not sinned in any way to require punishment from Heaven. Secondly, when she
was 20, she still had the pure beauty that is attributed to a little girl; in
this example, a seven year old. The pasuk breaks down each level separately to accentuate
these ideas.

Rav Samson Rafael
Hirsch asks another question on this pasuk, how come the pasuk needed to write “the
years of the life of Sarah” at the end? Isn’t it obvious that’s what we’re discussing?
In fact, that’s the entire pasuk! To explain, he expands on this medrash.

The three ages of 100,
20, and 7 that are broken down in the pasuk, are representative of the three
stages of a person’s life: youth, adulthood, and old age. Chazal teach us that
the best way for a person to live their life is to act their age in each one of
these stages. What is meant by this?

As a person lives and
goes through these life stages, the lessons learned from each stage should be
internalized and used to be successful in the next stage. So theoretically, the
mistakes and lessons a person learns as a child should affect how he lives as
an adult, and the happenings of an adult should teach and influence him how to
live his life as an older person. What should end up happening is that the
older person has the most life experience from which to draw wisdom and insight
into events in the world, while in turn the adult has more wisdom and
experience than the youth. When life follows this pattern, with a person accepting
and internalizing past experiences and building upon them in the next stage of
life, Chazal say this is a true life.

This brings us back to
the medrash and the breakdown of Sarah’s life. To read the medrash simply sounds
ridiculous. The lack of sin on the part of the 20 year old is due to what is
called the “innocence”, read- naiveté, of the youth. You can’t hold an unknowledgeable
person responsible for their actions! And there’s no pride in being compared to
that kind of innocence. (But people actually think there is!) In reality, the true
conqueror of sin is the one who has been faced with the challenges of life, the
attraction to depravity, the desires for shallowness, slowly building up experience
and knowledge throughout their adult life until they come out shining on the
other side. The real comparison you want drawn is the 20 year old should be
clean from sin like the 100 year old, the one who has faced those challenges
and come out on top!

The same is true when
it comes to beauty. As an innocent, ignorant child, it is easy to maintain the
pure, clear beauty of youth. But the one who has faced peer-pressure, possibly derision,
and the expectations of the outside world, yet still maintained that pure
beauty, both inner and outer, upon reaching adulthood, that is someone to be
admired. This is a stage that is meant for those in the prime of life when the
thoughts of others are stronger on the consciousness and the physical body is
in peak condition. And it is one that can be conquered by them. This person is to
go through these challenges, come out shining on the other side and is to be
compared to a young child who knows nothing of such things!? It’s insulting.

Sarah was someone who
embodied this “true life”, taking the lessons of her youthful beauty to service
her as an adult, and the lessons on avoiding sin into her later years. This is
why the pasuk breaks down her age into these three stages, represented by the
numbers 100, 20, and seven. So while these 127 were indeed “the years of the life
of Sarah”, they were also “the life of Sarah”; they tell the story of her
journey through the stages of life until she left this world, fully
accomplished, having perfectly completed the sum of the purpose of her entire
life.

May this understanding
of our amazing ancestor be an inspiration to us all, and teach us how we should
view each portion of our lives. Any challenges we face are only there to make
us stronger, and our lives are only complete when we can use everything we have
learned, our lives can only then be called “truly lived”, when we have reached the
final stage.

Friday, November 3, 2017

Our forefather, Avraham was known for
his tremendous Chessed, the extraordinary acts of kindness he performed with
the people of his generation. Our parsha opens with one such example, where
only three days after a painful Bris Milah, Avraham sat out in the hot sun
waiting for potential guests to walk by so he could provide for them.
Eventually, Hashem sent three angels disguised as humans to satisfy Avraham. Besides
for this, the angels each had an additional mission, to heal Avraham, to inform
him that he would soon have a son, and the last one was sent to destroy the
city of Sodom.

What exactly did the people of Sodom do
to merit total destruction? Chazal teach us thatamong
their many sins, Sodom forbid any type of “tzedakah,” charity or kindness, in
the city. Everyone was expected to provide for themselves without relying on
anyone else. They forbid guests from outside the city as well since it violated
this principle. This description is in stark contrast to the attitude of Avraham,
so well-illustrated at the beginning of the parsha. But why would ignoring
these principles warrant complete erasure from the Earth? What is so important
about tzedakah that singled out Sodom from any number of evil societies?

Rav Samson Rafael Hirsch explains the
mindset behind the mitzvah of charity. Hashem tells us to treat those around us
with two basic principles, Mishpat and Tzedakah, Justice and Charity. (See
Hoshea 14:10.) These became the guiding principles for those who would follow
Hashem, namely, Avraham and his descendants (us!). What exactly constitutes
justice and charity? Rav Hirsch explains that justice is when one man can
demand something from another because it is already coming to him; it is
something he deserves, that belongs to him. Charity is different but not exactly
what we would expect. It is something which I cannot demand from anyone, but I
am allowed to expect it since Hashem has made it clear that it will be coming
to me. If we understand this principle correctly, it totally changes our
perspective on giving charity.

The normal belief of every individual is
that whatever money he has belongs to him. He worked hard and sacrificed for
it, and while the money is truly a blessing from Hashem, now that he has it, it
is his to do with as he pleases. He believes that giving charity is important
since it teaches him to be giving and provides the opportunity to help others,
but any charity he gives should be considered as a gift coming from his own pocket.
The explanation Rav Hirsch though, sinks this understanding.

On the surface, Rav Hirsch makes no
sense; obviously I can’t demand the money since it’s not mine, but hen how can
I expect it to come? I have no connection to it! The true understanding of
money is that I work hard and sacrifice for it, and Hashem blesses me with it
and allows me to enjoy it; but at the same time He has given me an important
job. The money is not truly mine, it’s still Hashem’s; I am simply His steward
in spreading it around to those who need it, to those who have not been blessed
by Him as I have. And as long as I continue to do my job properly, He will
continue to bless me.

This was Sodom’s big mistake. They
looked at everything they had as the product of their own sweat and tears. Even
if Hashem had blessed them, at this point the money belonged to them. What
right did anyone else have to take part? But Avraham knew better. He was one of
the richest men in the world, but he knew that he was only a distribution
center for Hashem. While he was able to enjoy his money himself, it was just as
important for him to share it with the rest of society, all of whom were creations
of Hashem. He was so enthusiastic in his duties that he even sat outside in the
blazing heat just three days after having surgery.

This is not simply a vort from Rav
Hirsch on the pasuk, this is actually how we pasken the halacha! This attitude
towards chessed and tzedakah was the defining attribute of Avraham; it was what
made him the Father of the Jewish People and was the main attribute which he
passed down to us. We must be sure to emulate him and realize that all we have
in this world is a gift from Hashem, given to us only because we are
responsible to provide for those around us as well. That way, we can all enjoy
the blessings He has bestowed upon us.